Roseville's SPI Solar lands New Jersey resort project

The solar power business pipeline between the Sacramento area and New Jersey continues to produce energy projects and hundreds of jobs.

On Tuesday, Roseville-based SPI Solar said it has an agreement to design and build multiple solar energy facilities in New Jersey.

The deal with a subsidiary of New Jersey-based KDC Solar LLC calls for construction at the Mountain Creek Resort and Grand Cascades Golf Resort in Vernon, N.J.

Specific financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

KDC will own and operate the three facilities, which will include a mix of fixed ground components and custom-made solar parking canopies. The combined sites will provide more than 8 million kilowatt hours of solar electricity generation per year.

The deal is the latest in a series of New Jersey projects involving Sacramento-area companies lured by Garden State incentives, which are considered some of the most attractive in the solar industry.

In March, Premier landed a $27.6 million contract with a China-connected investment group to build three high-performance, utility-scale solar power plants in New Jersey.

San Mateo-based SolarCity and San Francisco-based Sunrun, two other large solar companies with a big presence in Sacramento, also have made major inroads in New Jersey's residential solar market.

New Jersey -- fourth-smallest state in the nation by area with a population about one-fifth of California's and subject to sometimes brutal winters -- has nevertheless emerged as the nation's second-largest solar market, behind California.

Analysts said the primary reason is a state program under which companies that install solar systems can cash in by selling credits to utilities.

According to solar industry trackers, New Jersey's solar industry has grown from fewer than a dozen projects a decade ago to more than 11,000. Many of the projects power factories and warehouses in Garden State urban centers.

Tuesday's announcement by SPI Solar is the latest byproduct of a three-year pact with KDC Solar LLC that officials believe could generate at least $600 million in work throughout New Jersey for the two companies.

For SPI, the latest New Jersey deal represents a first.

"This will be our first installation at a major year-round resort," said Stephen Kircher, SPI's CEO. "We are extremely pleased ... that our finished work will be seen by the thousands of visitors the resorts draw from the tri-state area. We look forward to getting started."